Lean Production

Content Cell production Just In Time (JIT) Time-based management Continuous improvement Lean production and human resources

Lean production Lean production looks at reducing all forms of waste throughout the production process Types of waste: –Materials –Time –Energy –Human effort

Cell production Production is organised around teams Every team is responsible for one stage in the production process This helps improve motivation is it encourages team work It can increase quality as employees feel more ownership of the final product Teams will self-check their work before it enters the next stage of production

Just In Time (JIT) Goods are produced to order so stock levels are minimal Keeping low stock levels decreases the costs of storing them helping to increase profits This increases the flexibility of a firm It helps reduce waste as you only use what you need

JIT For JIT to be effective you need the following: –Excellent supplier relationships – need the supplies to arrive at exactly the right time –Reliable employees – or stoppages may occur –A flexible workforce – need them to be able to work any time and any where

JIT – Advantages and Disadvantages Advantages Increased focus on quality Costs are reduced: –Warehousing –Security and insurance –Opportunity Disadvantages May be difficult to meet unexpected major increases in demand Can be problems caused by suppliers Loss of discounts for buying in bulk

Time-based management This is used as a USP for many businesses Businesses try and produce items more quickly than competitors or deliver it more quickly to them increasing sales

Simultaneous engineering To decrease new product development times firms use simultaneous engineering Simultaneous engineering – where everyone involved in the project works on it at the same time – engineers, designers etc This decreases the time taken to get the product to market

Continuous Improvement Kaizen – Continuous incremental improvement of an activity to eliminate waste This is a Japanese approach to production Everyone in the business has to be involved for it to work Review all processes and procedures and look at better ways of doing them to increase performance

Continuous Improvement Based on the idea of gradual change not radical overhauls Need to have well qualified staff who are trained to identify improvements to process or product to improve performance of the organisation

Lean Production and People Workers are key to all lean production techniques All of the methods demand for employees to have high levels of empowerment and involvement so they constantly try to improve how the business works Need to have “people-centred management”

Lean production and people When businesses introduce methods of lean production they need to: –Use a management style that is more listening in its approach – need employees to feel that they can come forward with their ideas –Train all employees –Increase skill levels of employees so they can do more than one job –Develop good manager-subordinate relations

Summary Lean production refers to production methods where waste is minimized Cell production is where production is organised by teams who are responsible for a part of the process Cell production increases motivation of workers Just In Time (JIT) production aims to make products when they are needed reducing costs and decreasing wastage Time-based management tries to reduce new product development times through simultaneous engineering Continuous improvement looks at improving in small incremental steps Lean production and human resources – workers are key to all methods of lean production and need to be given the skills and autonomy for the methods to be successful